Is a durso standpipe that best way to go??

[spoonman]

I just bought a 75 gallon undrilled tank and am going to have it drilled. Is a durso standpipe setup the best way to go? I am assuming that if you lost power or a pump died, you would only send about an inch or two of the tank water to the sump. Is that correct? It also seems like it would be alot quieter since the drain is actually underwater, so you wont have any gurgling or any other noise. My LFS will drill the bottom of the tank and install bulkheads and linelock nozzles for $220. I will just have to build the standpipe and return tubes. Those just consist of a couple pieces of PVC and a couple of elbows. I think this is better than drilling the back or using a HOB overflow. Am I wrong???

 

[spoonman]

Just realized that this method would also allow the tank to be put against the wall. You can't do that with HOB stuff.

 

[Crazycajun]

Yes the pipes help with the noise and the flow. But it depends of course where your hole is on your return pipe that will determine how much water will return to your sump in a power outage. It has nothing to do with the durso.

 

[spoonman]

So, if I understand right the water will flow to the sump through the return in the event of a power outage? The water flowing through the overflow should stop as soon as it gets down to the elbow of the standpipe and starts sucking air, right?

 

[Crazycajun]

Correct but if your return pipe is lower your water will flow back to sump from the return line. Understand?

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[Crazycajun]

Check out http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

Show a good diagram

 

[spoonman]

Thanks cajun! That is an awesome link. So, this is a good way to go and a good expense to prevent issues in the future?

 

[ccCapt]

Will the LFS quarantee they won't break the tank when drilling it? I don't know of any 75g tanks that don't have a tempered glass bottom...and you can't drill tempered glass.

 

[mr_X]

I would much rather drill the back pane and install a Glass Holes overflow or similar. Why would you want to take up all that space in the display? You can silence the overflow by throttling back the pump some.

 

[spoonman]

Valid points. They will guarantee not to break it if I have it checked at a glass shop and verify it's not tempered. I have limited space to put this tank and figured I could be 3-4" closer to the wall with no plumbing coming out of the back of the tank. That is my main reason for wanting to go this direction.

 

[mr_X]

You will need to build an overflow box around the pipes, just like store bought RR tanks. You know this, right? How will you do this? Glass?

 

[mfdrookie516]

You won't need 3-4" behind the tank... if you do a glass holes kit, you'll need 2-2.5".... and you'd want that anyways. While I agree with Dougs reasoning behind the overflow box on the back, I think a full length overflow box would help a lot with noise...if it bothers you.

FWIW, I'm considering buying a new 40b and putting a corner overflow in it to replace my current tank...

 

[mr_X]

Try sliding a piece of airline tubing down that black tube glass holes overflows provide. Move it up and down until you find the sweet spot.

 

[spoonman]

You will need to build an overflow box around the pipes, just like store bought RR tanks. You know this, right? How will you do this? Glass?

They do a glass box covered with black plexi. It looks like a store bought RR tank when they are done.